Month: January 2022

Daily Thoughts

Question Marks & Storms

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When We Have Days That Seem Like One Big Question Mark

Am I the only one who has days when you find yourself waking up to a day of wondering what is your purpose for the day and what if I don’t fulfill the purpose that God is leaving me here for? Do you have days when your mind is so distracted that it seems impossible to focus on the here and now? And the questions like…what can I do to bring light and truth to someone when I feel so inundated with all “my stuff!”

Am I living a life that is glorifying to God? A friend posted a wonderful heartfelt letter today on FB that made me stop and think about the storms In our lives and what we should be doing in the midst of the storms that come to us and how to come out on the other side, with more faith having grown into more of Christs’ likeness than when we entered the storm. Some days just pass by so quickly because of business or so bogged down with commitments that I hardly give these questions a thought. Other days find me having more time to think and ponder (I love that word….makes me feel so educated when I use it) only to;

• find that I try to fill my time with matters that don’t bless anyone or give of my time to someone that might need something! This is not a post to cause guilt or discourage others. It is just something that has been on my mind to put into words. Did God give us days in which to just enjoy without heavy thinking or having to always be “on” and look for ways in which to be a lighthouse for Him? Of course! But I pray that even in those ordinary days my life will reflect Him. But sometimes (and yes you can tell I’m an only child) I try to make too many days all about me and resist the nudging of the Holy Spirit to use me in ways that seem like a new opportunity for me to give of my time or talent God has given to me!

• Yesterday our guest preacher, Levi Lusko, told us “you don’t get to choose your storms but you can choose how you respond to them “!

When our “question mark”days come, and so many times these question mark days come in the middle of a storm and yes they do come to all of us, may we all look to our Creator God to give us His wisdom, His guidance but most of all His love for others so that we will bring glory to Him no matter what He ask of us or where He takes us

Daily Thoughts

Homemade French Crumb Apple Pie

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This is the recipe for the pie that I made Monday for the video on YouTube and FB. It is such a pretty pie with the crumb topping and the cinnamon apples that have been cooked with butter (of course). About the only time I make an apple pie is when requested. Cherry pie or any type of cream pie, oh yes, and buttermilk and pecan pie are always at the top of my list, but since a friend was sick and requested one, it was indeed fun to make and delivered to her door Monday afternoon. If you don’t want to take the time to slice apples or just prefer to use canned apple pie filling (actually I like of like the apple pie filling better than using fresh apples….do not send me hate mail, that is just my weird preference). But if you do use canned pie filling, just sprinkle a little brown sugar over the top of the apples before the topping along with a little cinnamon and of course (you know what I’m going to say)….slice some butter on top as well. Then top it with the second crust or the crumb topping.

If using fresh apples:

4-5 large apples, peeled and sliced

1/4 cup of butter, sliced

1 cup of water

2 teas corn starch dissolved in 1/3 cup water

2 teas ground cinnamon

3/4 to 1 cup of light brown sugar

Cook altogether until apples are tender and mixture begins to boil. Add the cornstarch-water mixture and stir until mixture is thick. Set aside for about 15 min to cool a little

Place a pie crust in bottom of pie plate. Pour the lukewarm apples in pie shell. Either top with another pie crust or sprinkle crumb topping over the apples. Bake in preheated 425 oven for about 30 minutes or until crust is golden brown.

CRUMB TOPPING:

1 cup all purpose flour

1/2 light brown sugar

1/2 cup cold butter, sliced

Using a pastry cutter, cut in butter with the sugar and flour until mixture resembles crumbs. When it is coarse crumbles, sprinkle over the apple filling. Bake as directed above.

to watch video of making this pie go to YouTube Sassy Southern Trudy K Cox.

Daily Thoughts

Macaroni & Cheese

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Isn’t it amazing to have these wonderful comfort foods in days when either life is hard, or the weather is frightfully cold, or we are just having a day when our hair doesn’t do what we want, the gas tank is on empty and we just don’t want to eat one more salad! Those days call for some special dishes which speak to not only our bellies, but to our hearts. This is one of those dishes! At Christmas a sweet friend gave some of us these great little cookbooks/stories from Laurel, Mississippi! I loved it so much I have ordered the other two as well. Each of these little gems have home cooking recipes along with stories from their family. Many of you probably watch Home Town On HGTV and are familiar with Erin and Ben. These recipes are taken from their family members and the stories….they are precious. This recipe is from Vol 3 ! The books are $15 each and worth every penny! Do yourself a favor and order them today!

Gramma Mollye’s Mac & Cheese

1 lb macaroni

16 oz small curd cottage cheese

12 oz sour cream

1 lb grated cheddar cheeee

4 tablespoons butter

1/4 cup bread crumbs

1/4 cup Parmesan cheese

Salt & Pepper to taste

Preheat oven to 350. Cook & drain macaroni.

In a large bowl, allow butter to melt with macaroni. Add cottage cheese, sour cream grated cheddar and salt & pepper.

Mix until well combined. Put macaroni in a 9×13 casserole dish.

Top with bread crumbs and parmesan cheese which you have mixed together, before putting on top .

Bake for about 30 min or until top is crisp and lightly browned!

(I have to admit that I sliced a stick of butter to place over the breadcrumbs before baking). Please don’t tell! Remember my motto: you can never have too much butter!

Daily Thoughts

Italian Sausage & Spinach Soup

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It is cold here in Dallas and getting colder by the hour. I love it. The fireplace is on, Randy is working in his little cubby office and we just finished having a cup of coffee and a donut from our favorite donut shop in the world. Seriously we sit there and after each bite, we look at the donut to see if we can possibly see what they do to make then so soft. We just cannot figure out why these donuts are so different. When the rest of the world discovers this place, Dunkin won’t stand a chance. But on to my soup story. Over the weekend, I bought some Italian ground sausage and fresh spinach and had just picked up some spinach-ricotta filled tortellini from Trader Joes, I decided to make us a soup for the cold weather we knew would be here this week. This soup is so good and so filling and goes perfectly with garlic bread. Yep, thats all you need. Garlic bread and soup and then of course some of these amazing cinnamon twists from Donut Palace at Frankfort and the Tollway in Dallas. I cannot lie, I also get a jelly filled donut so I don’t have to decide between the two.

2 cans (8 oz each) tomato sauce

2 cans (14.5 oz) chicken broth

1/2 lb of mild ground Italian Sausage

2 cups chopped fresh spinach

1 small onion, chopped

1 carrot, diced

1/2 bell pepper

1/2 teas Italian Seasoning

1 teas fresh garlic or 1/2 teas garlic powder (I added a little more plus a little more garlic as we love it with added flavor)

In a small skillet, brown the meat with the onion and bell pepper until meat is done. Add the seasonings, and add salt and pepper to your liking.

Transfer to a large saucepan. Add the meat mixture to the saucepan and add the tomato sauce, chicken broth, (Also, you might want to add about a cup of water to the mixture) cup up carrot, 2 cups of chopped fresh spinach and cook for about 30 min over low heat until carrots and spinach are done. Add about 2 cups of the tortellini to the boiling soup and cook according to the package directions. Mine said to cook them about 5 min. We both sprinkled a little parmesan cheese over the top and indulged ourselves with the soup and a few (no I won’t tell you how many slices we had) of wonderful hot garlic/butter bread. But we did save room for the other donuts that were still in the box. And forgive me, we ate the soup so quickly, I forgot to take a picture. But will be making it again very soon, so will add a picture to this post when we do.

Daily Thoughts

Small Blessings

Chocolate Castles1 Comment

Happy New Year to all and hope that 2022 brings you joy, laughter and blessings, both large and small. As we took the lights off the tree last evening and carried the tree out to the garage to wait for the tree bag we ordered, I began to just think about this past year. I decided to just sit down and look back over the pictures from the year to see some of the events or people who had been a part of my 2021 year and some of the joys that brought a smile to my heart. Isn’t it wonderful that we have the capacity to do that. To just flip through our photos to see things that not only touched our lives, but people, places and things that give us wonderful memories. As i began to look, stating last January, it became evident that last year truly was a different year. I remember the first time we got to go back to church in person. What a joy to sit with others and hear people around you sing and then just the sweet feeling of fellowship that we could not get watching church online. In February, the weekend of the freeze we moved. Need I say more? We moved back to Frisco, from down in Dallas and was so thankful for the house that the Lord truly provided for us. As I look around and see some of the things I had ask Him for, and Him, “giving us more than we can ever comprehend or imagine” did just that.
Windows, lots of windows, had been a huge priority that I had ask for. A kitchen where I could see outside while standing at the sink. A pantry, and oh my if you could see my pantry. It is larger than I have ever had, even in larger homes we had lived in. Sitting here typing, there are 8 windows and a door I can see out of. We have neighbors who know us and we know them. We have a bedroom for Randy to office out of. These were all answered. Then we had our daughter, Jodi fly in to help us move in. By the time, her plane took off (4 days later than expected due to the freeze), she had emptied out every box. All I had to do was put things away. We had more family members move here from Austin, Jamin and Shannon. Blessing upon blessing has been seen this year. Of course, there are some times and circumstances which we would not have choose, but God is always faithful to see us through and as we continue to live and ask God’s guidance for our days, He does so.

This Christmas was very special. For the first time in about 24 years, all 5 grown children along with their kids were here for the holidays. We had a ball. We had a lady come to take our pictures and are suppose to be getting the pictures back today. we had meals together, the kids (and some of us who think we are kids) did some crafts together and even played outside. We loved hearing the laughter and sounds of them actually not being on their phones. All this to say that this past year, even though it was still different because of Covid, saw its blessings, large and small. But one of my favorite blessings was on Christmas Eve. It is something that will stay in my heart for as long as I have memory. Sitting beside our 12 year old grandson, Caleb during Christmas Eve Service, we begin to sing Christmas Carols. I couldn’t sing as I began to get chocked up from the sound that was coming from beside me. Caleb was singing every carol with such feeling and from his heart. He sang as if he were singing right to Jesus and it still makes me cry to just remember this special night. Thinking about this, it gave me such joy to know that he was not ashamed to be singing his heart out and how we should all be so grateful for the joy that is ours and for Christ who gives us that joy. Thank you Caleb, that even though he was spending his first Christmas away from his dad, he still had joy and was celebrating Christmas by giving what he had to give…..his heart. May I remember to do that as well in this new year, no matter the circumstance.

Daily Thoughts

Christmas Clocks & Car Decor

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Posted at 12:00 pm by Chocolate Castles

To everyone who has read Chocolate Castles in 2021 I just want to thank you. The Annual Report from Word press arrived today and it was exciting to see that over 18,000 people from over 90 countries read my blog this past year. So just wanted to thank each of you who have stopped by at one time or another to check out recipes or stories. Chocolate Castles began in 2009 as a result of friends calling to ask me a recipe. When Jason, my son was with me one day and I received a couple of phone calls requesting a certain recipe, he suggested that I start a blog. When I told him I didn’t have a clue what a blog was, he sat down and showed me. From that point on, I was hooked. It is so exciting to see comments or hear from friends that they found a recipe which was a hit with their family or a story had made them laugh.
Which brings me to what happened as Randy and I were driving home today from buying black eyed peas for tomorrow. . We were stopped at a red light and a young man in a pick up pulled up beside us. I glanced over and saw something that made me perk right up. There hanging in his windows were Christmas lights strung all across the back window of his pick up. When I began to grab Randy’s arm to get him to look over at them, he was already for me. I turned with a huge grin to say, “OH my gosh, look what we can do next year! We can line the dashboard of our car with garland and put those little battery operated Christmas lights all over it” when he gave me the most glaring look and said, “you have got to be kidding me. No lights will be inside or outside our car.” Visions of going to see if I could find another Christmas clock that plays Christmas carols at Walgreens (yes that is where I have found them in years past) which play a different carol on the hour was already going through my mind for next year. I could just see our new Christmas clock sitting proudly on the dashboard right in the middle of the lit garland. We would be the first Friscoians I bet to display our Christmas spirit this way. Just this year I was finally able to talk him into buying the reindeer antlers for the car, but never got him to actually put them on the car. Maybe Christmas 2022 will be the year that I can talk him into driving around with antlers and the red nose on the front of our car. AND…install my new garland with lights!
But next year, the day after Thanksgiving, if you see a little white car with lit garland inside their car, please take the time to wave at us. Maybe you will get to stop at a red light beside us and we will display our holiday spirit by rolling down our car window so you can enjoy the sounds of our new Christmas Clock in the car. Am headed to Walgreens now to see if they still have any before all their Christmas stuff is put away for the year.
So here is to 2022and the continuing of sharing a few of my passions, cooking and writing. Happy New Year to one and all!